KARACHI: Pakistan Stock Exchange Monday witnessed a mixed trend as investors remained on the sidelines due to their concerns over prevailing economic and political situation in the country.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index hit 41,992.53 points intraday high and 41,640.57 points intraday low before closing at 41,716.95 points, down 24.83 points or 0.06 percent.

Trading activity remained low as total daily volumes on ready counter decreased to 192.412 million shares as compared to 281.894 million shares traded on last Friday while total daily traded value on ready counter declined to Rs 7.661 billion against previous session’s Rs 14.709 billion.

BRIndex100 inched up by 4.9 points or 0.12 percent to close at 4,179.11 points with total daily turnover of 179.944 million shares.

BRIndex30 gained 39.0 points or 0.26 percent to close at 15,159.57 points with total daily trading volumes of 115.866 million shares.

Foreign investors however remained net buyers of shares worth $443,691. Total market capitalization declined by Rs 3 billion to Rs 6.556 trillion. Out of total 318 active scrips, 150 closed in positive and 148 in negative while the value of 20 stocks remained unchanged.

SSGC was the volume leader with 22.253 million shares and gained Rs 0.95 to close at Rs 12.17 followed by WorldCall Telecom that closed at its previous session’s closing level of Rs 1.27 without any change with 16.385 million shares. OGDC declined by Rs 2.26 to close at Rs 98.80 with 15.131 million shares.

Sapphire Textile and Goodluck Industries were the top gainers increasing by Rs 73.37 and Rs 52.45 respectively to close at Rs 1099.99 and Rs 850.00 while Millat Tractors and Systems Limited were the top losers declining by Rs 17.28 and Rs 13.19 respectively to close at Rs 530.04 and Rs 472.39.

“To begin off the business week, a mixed session was recorded at the PSX,” an analyst at Arif Habib Limited said. The index opened in the red territory, continuing the previous close’s negative sentiments, but market sentiments quickly changed as the market proceeded to trade in the green for most of the day, reaching an intraday high of plus 249.38 points due to positive advancements in the disbursement of the 9th tranche of IMF’s Extended Fund Facility. Volumes remained solid across the board, but investor engagement in the E&P sector remained high due to the possibility of a gas tariff increase.

Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology & Communication (down 72.1 points), OMCs (up 53.4 points), Automobile Assembler (down 15.6 points), Pharmaceuticals (down 14.9 points) and Engineering (down 6.8 points).

BR Automobile Assembler Index decreased by 72.4 points or 0.98 percent to close at 7,342.16 points with total turnover of 2.835 million shares.

BR Cement Index gained 13.56 points or 0.36 percent to close at 3,793.58 points with 15.605 million shares.

BR Commercial Banks Index inched up by 7.17 points or 0.09 percent to close at 8,240.06 points with 12.102 million shares.

BR Power Generation and Distribution Index increased by 190.33 points or 2.92 percent to close at 6,708.69 points with 25.062 million shares.

BR Oil and Gas Index lost 11.17 points or 0.26 percent to close at 4,327.08 points with 67.693 million shares. BR Tech. & Comm. Index declined by 71.18 points or 1.62 percent to close at 4,309.92 points with 26.895 million shares.

An analyst at Topline Securities said that Pakistan equities closed slightly negative where benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at 41,716 level, down 0.06 percent. A range-bound activity was witnessed at the bourse today where market make an intraday high of plus 249 points and a low of minus 97 points over IMF statement was encouraging as it stated that virtual discussions will continue and hinted towards certain prior actions.

Investor interest mostly witnessed in HUBC and ENGRO where both stocks closed higher cumulatively added 85 in KSE-100 Index.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023